Plummer retiring? In defense of Wandy and Jason Lane

Just our luck. Jake Plummer is considering retirment instead of playing for the Texans. That’s cold. Was it something we said? Have a heart, Jake. Sure, our offensive line will get you hit a few times. Sure, our running backs aren’t all that great. That’s why God gave you speed, Jake. That’s why you’re the right man for this team.

You’re at your best when you’re throwing on the run, Jake. If you came to the Texans, you’d be throwing on the run, brother. Reconsider, Jake. There’s no pressure here. The bar is set very, very low. Come on down. You’ll love the Tex-Mex. You’ll love the winters. You’ll love McClain and Anna-Megan.

Plummer is “seriously considering retirement,” according to a Denver television station. “I think anybody close to Jake, who knows him on a personal level, if he came in one day and said ‘I’m outta here’ … it wouldn’t be a big surprise,” Jay Cutler said. “But he’s competitor. I know he loves the game and loves Sundays, so if he came back I wouldn’t be surprised that way either.”

• • •

You want Wandy Rodriguez gone. You want Jason Lane gone, too. You’re wrong. You may be right about how they’ll play, but you’re dead wrong about thinking the Astros should release them. It’s ridiculous to give up on two youngs who’ve had so little playing time in the big leagues.

First of all, Jason Lane has had 1,037 at-bats in the big leagues. Ask any competent baseball person and they’ll tell you never ever to make an definitive evaluation until a hitter is around 1,500 at-bats. Jason Lane has a .252 career average with 53 HRs and 162 RBIs. At this point in his career, he has been a productive hitter. In two years as an everyday player, he has had one good season and one bad one. We’ll know more soon enough. No use rushing.

As for Wandy, his numbers are terrible. In 46 starts, he’s 19-20 with a 5.58 ERA. I want to see what he does after some instruction from new pitching coach Dave Wallace. I have no confidence he’ll make it, but I’m not ready to say he’s done.

Wouldn’t it be something if both Wandy Rodriguez and Jason Lane still had something to offer? I see both of them out there on the field everyday. Lane is swinging the bat with confidence. Wandy looks good. I don’t see any harm in having them in camp and giving them a chance.

• • •

I appreciate so many of you checking out CancerDiva, the new Chronicle blog from Terry Hayes. It apparently has been a big hit. Problem is, it seems to be becoming more popular than my blog. This, friends, is wrong. I give you a recommendation and you boot me to the curb. Well, that’s fine. Do what you have to do. When you’ve had enough of reading those fascinating stories about chemo and her cat, you can go back to the powerful stuff. Like how a millionaire ball player spent his winter. Now that’s real life. I’ll leave a light on for you here.

Richard, didnt you say in your blog just yesterday or the day before that “your money was on” Nieve, Albers and/or Sampson getting the 2 final spots, even though Wandy was the frontrunner? Now you are saying he looks good? What gives?

The fact of the matter is that if Wandy wasn’t a lefty, he would not be in the majors, and even though he IS a lefty, there are very few teams that would have him on their big league roster. Unfortunately, the Astros look like they are one of those teams. This guy has not shown us anything in the last 2 years. Yes, he “won 20 games for us.” Whenever someone brings that up in support of him, they fail to also mention he was in the top of all major league pitchers in terms of run support. Fact is, the Astros have to score 8-10 runs when he’s pitching to have a chance to win the game!

All I’m saying is that it’s ridiculous to say the Astros should get rid of Wandy and Jason. I have no idea what they’re going to do. But the notion that it’s time to throw them out the door is silly.–Richard

I don’t want to give up on them either. But saying Wandy has a leg up ONLY because he is a lefty is very foolish IMO. I would much rather see Sampson/Albers with Nieve in the pen ready to take over that closers role in the next couple of seasons.

On another note, I have always been a fan of Peter Gammons but it seems he has fallen into the role of promoting the Evil Sports Propaganda Network. Anyone else see the thing about 23 after his stupid Roger Clemens bit? That was pathetic.

I’ll be appearing on ESPN’s Outside the Lines today in case you’re interested. ESPN is the gold standard for sports coverage in this country. If you could someday accomplish 1 percent of what Peter Gammons has accomplished, if you could be 1 percent as respected as he is, you should consider yourself a very lucky young man.–Richard

It looks like the Spin Committe is already hard at work. As fans, we will not forget the pathetic performances of Wandy and Lane last yr. You’re just trying to earn your check from the Astros to get the fans to not remember and give these “players” a chance. It’s funny how in the past few days you have written and defended Esnberg and Everette as well. I gues we should expect an Ausmnus article soon. Bottom line, stop telling us bad players are good. We can read and interpret stats just fine. To steal a line from your blog, “As for Wandy, his numbers are terrible”…Exactly. My point Exactly, Stop defending these guys.

Can you read? I wrote that they should be given a chance to compete for a job. Period. End of story.–Richard

I wouldn’t have the biggest problem with Lane if Luke Scott was told he was the starting right fielder. But, the fact that Doggy and Lane are in competition for this spot is a slap in his face. It’s almost the same with Wandy, the problem isn’t the fact that he is in camp it’s that Garner and everyone seems to assume him as the 4th starter using his record as the reason for this. When we talk about Wandy it’s about records when we talk about Clemens it’s about ERA and not his record. So which one is more important? No matter what form of math you use the answer still comes out that Wandy is a piece garbage.

A piece of garbage? Really? How often do you refer to another human being as a piece of garbage? Does that make you feel good? If it does, I’m glad to help with your self-esteem.–Richard

For Jason Lane to make the major league team out of spring training, he has to outperform (with five-plus weeks of consisitency, mind you) some pretty decent hitting competition in Luke Scott (probably the favorite to start in RF) and Richard Hidalgo (who I’ve heard looks surprisingly solid early on – but we’ll see once the live competition starts in a week). Even earning a bench spot could prove difficult for Lane with the likes of the reliable Orlando Palmeiro holding down a seat on the pine. So, if Lane makes this team, that means he’s flying high and swinging a potent bat, in which case I gleefully say, “Bring it, baby!”

Wandy’s case is a bit more complicated, I think. His experience definitely helps his case (especially in comparison to a Matt Albers, a Chris Sampson and even a younger prospect like Troy Patton, if he were to come on and strongly contest for a rotation spot – boy, he’d have to be strong); conversely, Wandy’s numbers work to his disadvantage. Secretly, I’m pulling for Sampson in the fourth slot, but Wandy being the only southpaw in camp with starting experience in the bigs gives him a significant advantage over his competition, and rightly so. That basically means that Sampson, Albers, or even Patton is really forced to outperform Wandy by a clear margin to earn a rotation spot ahead of him…and again, rightly so.

As I see it, Lane truly has to EARN a spot in right or coming off the bench as the 4th or 5th outfielder (and if he’s shrunk or closed that hole in his big sweeping swing, he might just do that), but Wandy is somewhat in a position of having to not poorly pitch his way out of that 4th or 5th starter’s role… I may be wrong, but that’s what my gut tells me.

Those are good points, Richard…even though I’m sure it will bring out the bashers to your board. I agree that it is worth giving Wandy and Jason another chance. I can’t say that I would bet on either one succeeding this season, but they should be given a chance to show what they can do. Lane might have to be released if he doesn’t make the squad, because he is out of options. I hope the Astros trade him for something if they think he will have to be released. Wandy may deserve even more patience than Lane, because it often takes a young pitcher longer than a hitter to show that he can make it in the big leagues. And it isn’t like Wandy has nothing to work with…he induces a lot of grounders and he can strike out a few batters when he is ON…his issue is control.

Jason Lane is also 30 years old. If he was say 24 or 25 and had that many plate appearances that would be one thing, but a 30 year old is another animal all together. This is one of the flaws of the Astros leave them in the minors until they’re 27ish philosophy.

Wandy, the whipping boy of Astros fans everywhere, does have good stuff. Just watch him pitch. He’ll be amazing for a couple of innings then just fall apart after a couple of hits or a walk. It’s not his pitching, its his mental approach that is lacking. I don’t know if Wallace can fix that, but it’d be great if he did.

Plummer is not the answer. Carr has good ability to throw on the run and was not beat out by a rookie. Upgrade offensive line, 2nd and 3rd wide reciever and running back and then see what Carr can do. Plummer would be coming from a good team to a horrible team. I would retire also.

I agree with you on Wandy. Disagree with you on Lane. Lane couldn’t make it Venezuelan Winter League and quit. Lane has lost confidence and needs to go back to AAA ball. Luke Scott and Richard Hidalgo “who looks great” are an upgrade over Lane.

If Jason Lane somehow turns into a completely new ball player…bring it on!! However, as of yet all I’ve seen is a streaky hitter who really doesn’t show much major-league quality. I think my 8 yr old niece had a higher BA in her little league game last weekend than Lane had in Venezuelan League! That said, it doesn’t hurt to give him a shot since we have him. He might surprise us…I believe in miracles. I just hope we don’t bank on that and give up someone with higher potential…

I just dont see it with Lane anymore, he had a great chance to succeed last year and he essentially played his way out of the starting lineup and back to the minors. I think Richard Hidalgo has a better chance of making the team, but neither will because Luke Scott is going to have his annual “lead the grapefruit league in home runs while batting .375″ spring training. The question is, what to do with Lane. I vote to release him, that would keep us from having to risk loosing Bruntlet (i believe Bruntlet is also out of options). So, i would rather have Bruntlet on the bench than Lane. As for Hidalgo, let him start the season in the minors and see how he does. Earlier this winter, i think Jesus Ortiz wrote that Lane worked diligently in the off season and had lost 15 pounds etc. etc. Then, Lane goes to Venezuela and hit .153. . .

As for Wandy, there is no harm in letting him compete for a starting job, but my bet is on a rotation of Oswalt, Clemens (after he signs in the end of May), Jennings, Williams, and Sampson getting us a Division Title and eventually the first world series title.

I don’t have any confidence at all in Wandy, but that’s what Spring Training is for. Let’s see what he can do in those windy cracker box Florida ballparks.

Lane is a mystery to me. Year before last, I thought he was in the big leagues to stay. Then last year he joined the automatic-out club with Ensberg and (late season) Biggio. If Scott and Doggy have good springs, Lane may be on the short leash.

Regarding Wandy and Lane…two factors work against them. Neither can be considered a young player and both are taking spots away from other players. Every at-bat you give Lane is an at-bat taken away from Luke Scott. Every inning pitched by Wandy is an inning that could be pitched by Sampson, Nieve, Albers.

Eventually you have to cut the cord. Speaking of which…is Orlando Palmeiro still on the roster?

I was wondering if you had a chance to read john clayton’s piece (on espn.com) on David Carr and how he reports that both Smith and Kubiak gave shaky endorsements to Carr…

“Alhough the Texans haven’t given up on the idea of trading Carr, general manager Rick Smith and coach Gary Kubiak gave Carr an endorsement as the Texans’ starting quarterback for 2007. But those endorsements were about as shaky as Carr’s pass protection.”

He goes on to say that if an improvement for the team can’t be made in trading Carr they are content to stay with him. Now, both you and McClain (and others) have said y’all believe he will be gone by draft day. Do you still believe this or have things changed within the Texans organization to go at least another year with Carr?

Why are Astro fans so threatened by having players they don’t like brought in for spring training. These players you hate will only be playing if they earn a position. If they are as bad as you vociferously indicate, these players will not be on the diamond. Breathe, it will raise your comfort level.

As for Jake Plummer, he is no dummy. He knows that forces beyond his control are pushing him to an NFL abyss- playing for Loop 610′s team. He’s probably doing his best to discourage the Texcan’ts from pursuing him so he can try to land a job with a good team.

RJ, Lane has had his time and the Astros should have traded him when he had value but since they held on to him too long lost a good chance to get great prospects just like they did when they held on too long to Daryle Ward.

Wandy just like Nieve have no business in the majors. Maybe in the Mexican League but not in MLB. Might as well bring back Ezequiel Astacio and Mike Gallo.

BTW, Burke has no business in CF. No power, No arm and yes mngt wants him starting in the OF and we are going to have a 42 yr old leadoff hitter and a unproven Burke. Way to go guys, we sure are going to scare off pitchers facing off on our 1st 2 guys.

Btw, I noticed some comments of people saying “Man, we need to ditch Clemens, he no longer HAS IT.”

For those people, and because I know everyone on this site just *loves* statistics, I present the following.

Roger Clemens ERA+ for the last two seasons. (ERA+ is a pitcher’s ERA when compared to the rest of the league, averaged to a 100. So if your ERA+ is 130, you were approximately 30% better than the average pitcher in the league.)

It’s nice to see Peter Gammons back doing baseball. However, in discussing the likely 4th & 5th starters for the Astros last night, he referred to them as Wandy Rodriguez & Francisco Nieve. I had no idea Fernando changed his name. Or maybe Peter should be more careful before he goes on national TV & butchers a players name. Now Richard, I know you’ll probably make a comment at how I’d be a lucky man if I could accomplish 1 percent of what Peter Gammons has or to be 1 percent as respected as he is. Heck, I’d consider myself lucky if I could do 1 percent of what YOU have accomplished(pray for me). The point is even Peter can make a mistake.

Do you think Jason will get enough at bats to be productive, especially if Hidalgo can return to anywhere near what he was. You couldn’t be more right about Rodriguez, Dave Wallace is an excellent pitching coach and what people seem to forget is that he is a lefty and in baseball you don’t throw lefties out unless you are absolutley sure they can’t pitch. I did have the chance to meet Peter Gammons at the All Star Game in Boston while I was working for Fox, real special human being and the finest writer in baseball period….

Win Rod, Magic Wandy, bring him in. Wandy is a gamer, he knows how to win, I love him, you keep giving him chances and he’ll keep competing. Also, I saw one of those grab life by the horn’s things with Jason Lane a while ago, and he said his favorite place to eat was Panera Bread. He needs to get off that, eat more steak, Panera is woman’s food, that’s why his batting average went down.

How about Carr for Tatum Bell then? Bell could help this team if you get another good back to compliment him. Peterson will never be available. Rosenfels/Kolb doesnt sound bad. Let em learn and develop and compete for the job next year. We’re not naive enough to be thinking playoffs next year. Progress is all we want. Plummer apparently understands the art of self preservation. Thats a very colorful way of saying not no, but heeeeeeeck no.

If Lane had one good season and one bad season, why are you all so quick to think the bad season is the rule and not the exception? He is just as likely to repeat the good season this year as the bad so why the negativity? As for Nieve, give the guy a chance. As a 5th starter he’s not bad. He problems are mental and not physical. That can be taught. How to make the ball move with electricity cannot. Nieve’s stuff is electric sometimes.

As for Plummer, who wants to go from being a starter for a consistent playoff team to a starter for a consistent loser? I’m sure he’s made millions. Let’s hope he has invested well and he’ll live a long and prosperous life . Playing for the Texans would jeopardize that. You wouldn’t want to wish ill will on another man would you?

Why do you, McClain and Lopez have this campaign going to bring Jake Plummer to Houston? I asked Mr. McClain this question as well, but not in the same exact terms. I’m not trying to bash you like many people do here, because I respect the work you guys do. I just really don’t understand why you guys keep tooting Plummer’s horn. I swear you guys act like he’s an upper echelon NFL QB, and the Texans would be lucky to have him. The guy is really not that good. I was actually a fan of his, but I got tired of his choking/bombing in big games.

I’m seriously trying to understand the media fixation on the idea that Plummer is the right QB move for the Texans. Is it blind faith in Kubiak’s coaching relationship with Plummer? Do you think Plummer is THAT much better than Carr/Rosenfels? Do you really think he’ll get the Texans to the play-offs or lead them to appreciably better results? Are you just trying to predict what will happen so that you can say you saw it coming all along?

Please help me out here, because I think signing Plummer will be just another big waste of time, opportunity, and salary cap space by the Texans. I really would like to know what your expectations are for Jake, since you’re acting like he’d be doing us a favor by coming here. In my humble opinion, he’d be doing us more of a favor if he does decide to retire.

He’s an upgrade over David Carr, and he has been the quarterback on playoff teams. That’s as far as I’ve gone. Got a problem with that?–Richard

From St. Louis, your Astros look so much weaker than the 2005 squad. No Pettit, no Clemens. (Come on, we all know he’s going to the Yankees.) Oswalt used to be your third starting pitcher. Now he’s #1 and Woody William, an old timer the Cards rightly let walk several years ago, is in the third slot. And don’t talk to me about Carlos Lee. Everyone knows that the only thing more bloated than Lee is his contract. Lee will soon be the poster boy for the ridiculous contracts handed out in the winter of 07.

Why not let them tryout for a spot on the team? I dont like Lane, never have but to say he shouldnt get a chance is stupid. Why dont we just say, here is the starting lineup, noone else can try and crack the starting lineup, that will get the competitive juices flowing and people working hard to get better. The point of spring training is for those with spots nailed down to get ready for the season and those with the question marks beside their names to erase those marks. This is done by competition for starting lineup/roster spots. Seriously, whats the harm in having Lane/Rodriguez trying to make the team. Scott tore it up, sure, but can he keep it up is the question. Sophomore slumps arent an uncommon thing. Wandy has pitched some good games, as well as many horrible ones but maybe Wallace can figure him out. They brought him here to develop our younger pitchers so here is his first challenge, bringing the best out of Wandy. If he cant, Wandy sits and Sampson/Albers/Nieve take his spot.

Having someone behind you pushing for your spot on the team everyday will make you work that much harder and can only make you better or you sit. Competition is good for those players still trying to make a name for themselves.

Michael, sorry dude but Biggio usually starts off the season pretty well, he gets his 3k hit, then if he slumps, Loretta plays. Burke will be a good centerfielder and batting infront of Berkman and Lee will see a lot more pitches, therefore increasing his numbers. Centerfielders these days arent really power hitters. Sure there are some but the majority of them just get on base and let the big bats drive them in, no need for power. Burke has speed as well, he might not be as fast as Willy T but I’ll take his bat over Willy’s any day of the week. And dont defend Willy with the hitting streak, he was 1 for 4 or 5 in most of those games and had no pop whatsoever in his bat.

I think the majority of fans have no problem letting Wandy try out for a rotation spot in spring training. There’s clearly nothing to lose by having him there. I think what people are upset about (myself included), is that the Astros mgmt. appear to be intent on giving him a spot regardless of how the other young guys perform. I feel pretty confident that there will be 5 right hand pitchers do better than Wandy this spring, yet he’ll still get the rotation spot because he’s a lefty and “has won games for us.” I think that is what most people are upset about.

Oh good, so you wouldn’t have written this blog if the Astros weren’t considering dumping Lame and Wrongriguez. I understand the Astros waiting around on Wandy to give him a chance with Wallace, but to hold younger, more talented players hostage by keeping Lame is idiotic. I’m sure that he’s just peaches of a person and does all of the right things, but a good reputation doesn’t fix that ugly swing.

On another note, after the Astros win the series this year, this is what I want to see next year…

Josh Anderson given a chance at the big league level. This guy is a huge talent. A left handed hitting centerfielder with Taveras’ speed (except he is a gifted baserunner) and defensive ability. This would mean trading Scott to make room for Pence also. But this will never happen.

When you resort to name-calling, that tells me you don’t have any facts on your side. Which you don’t. No young player is being held hostage by Jason Lane’s presence on the roster.–Richard

If Lane is such a gem we should have no trouble trading him for another very valuable player.

Why don’t you try reading a post before you comment on it? My point is that he shouldn’t be released. I have no idea if he’ll make the team or not. I’m just saying that releasing him would be silly.–Richard

I love when Cards/Cubs fans post stuff in the Chron’s blogs, the only reason they are here is because they are worried about our team being better than theirs.

Jimmy Joe, what did the Cards do this offseason besides lose pretty much their entire rotation?

Also, Oswalt wasnt our #3, he started the opening game every season therefore making him our #1 and Carpenter should mail that ’05 Cy to Oswalt, 20 wins, below 3 ERA, Oswalt has been screwed the past two years. Oz has the stats just not the recognition, which he deserves. Whats a man gotta do to get some recognition?

Cards your time is up, if the Stros dont dethrown you, someone will, gotta make your team better every year, not worse

Lane and Hidalgo are probably fighting for the last spot on the bench. 100 maybe 150 AB. If Pence has a strong start at AAA, either one could be gone by the all star break.

Rodriguez, on the other hand is competing for the #4 or #5 job and that scares me. Wandy has average control with sub-par velocity and average breaking pitches.

I just hope that Purpura makes the call, not Garner. Garner’s nonsense about “it’s wins that matter, not ERA” made me want to pull my hair out. According to Phil’s logic Roger Clemens wasn’t much better than Wandy, since Roger was only 7-6 while Wandy went 9-10.

There must have been a strong breeze blowin the last time you saw Wandy hit 90mph on the radar? 84-86 is more like it. Then again, I’d always suspected that Houston’s radar was jacked up a couple mph a few years back so that Billy Wagner would register triple digits (it always seemed like he hit 100 at home, but peaked at 97-98 on the road).

Jason Lane – Such an awesome person and so much production… that one year. So rj is right, one “good” season in 2005, 262, 26 hrs!, and the number that actually matters 78 rbi. RJ do you really believe that this is the type of player that will show up? The guy couldnt even hit in the venezualen league! where hidalgo tore it up. According to your “he had a good season dont give up on him” theory we should never have traded hidalgo. No, we spend too much time with players in the minors and we give hacks too many chances. WE HAVE BETTER OPTIONS THAN LANE. Scott, remember when he came up the first time and hit 200? That was a two month abirition. Lane had one for an entire year. I don’t think scott would have continued that slump given more time. Lane does not have the mental makeup. He is ALWAYS SWINGING FOR THE FENCES… ALWAYS. And if I see him pop out with risp just one more time, I SWEAR TO GOD ONE MORE TIME, and I will begin…. cussing even louder at the tv…

And wandy is the easiest pert of all of this… he throws left handed, Garner demands a lefty for better or worse, it is purpuras fault for not understanding his coachse needs and filling them with at the minimum adequate players, and our boys LOVE hitting when hes up there

I like Peter Gammons a lot, but I had to stop watching ESPN years ago. ESPN’s more formulaic than a cheap romance novel. In between the set pieces we get Stuart Scott, whose main function seems to be to demonstrate that he’s a hip black man, Lee Corso trying to figure out the big words on the teleprompter, and Dick Vitale proving that the University of Detroit was right to fire him as basketball coach all of those decades ago. And then we go to filler with the 10 best plays of the day, and the Sunday conversation with Barry Bonds, which strangely also gets run on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . . Then there’s the cheer leader contests, the World’s strongest man, drum and bugle corps competitions, competitions for lumberjacks, and, OH YEAH, poker! Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of poker.

Dumping anyone before spring training’s finished is retarded why would you even dignify these people’s ridiculous comments by posting them then writing a blog about it? Now being worried that Lane (or any other mediocre player) will scrape through spring training and cost us when he starts the beginning of the season is at least warranted.

But who cares about Jason Lane and Wandy? I want to hear some juicy news about our new SUPERSTAR Carlos Lee!! How does his defense look? Is he crushing the ball already? Is he a hard worker? Is he in shape??

If Wandy plays like he has the last two years, how long do we keep him in the rotation this season- if he makes it? When did you last see an Astros’ pitching coach make a pitcher take his game to another level- who working with who? Does he have enough movement and location (with 86 MPH fastball) to be a 4.00 ERA pitcher or better? What does a so-so left-handed pitcher do for a whole rotation? More potential- Sampson, Nieve or Albers? If you answer two questions, I’ll be happy (: …

Gotta say I agree with both duerbo and Rich above — I hate 90% of ESPN programming. The poker, the movies/drama TV shows (Playmakers) and the reality shows about the next SC anchor truly drive me nuts. That being said, I just watch Baseball Tonight, one episode out of the 5 SportsCenters shown every night, any live game they may be showing, and (of course) Richard’s brilliant appearances on PTI. I wish that ESPN would drop the synergistic brand name blahblah, but I just use the network for the products it provides that I like and ignore the offerings I hate.

Jake may be dumb, but he’s not stupid. Retiring with both his amrs and legs attached and a lot of money in the bank is better than going to the Texans, getting sacked 40-50 times, and having the snot knocked out of him. Carr never was the problem. Hard to throw the ball from your backside. Hard to have a good passing game when you have only one decent receiver. Hard to have a passing game with no running game to keep teams honest. Hard to win a game when your defense lets a guy run 30 + yards in overtime to beat you. I wished Vince had gone to The Texans. Then he’d be the one everyone is mad at. Hard to have a good run/pass attack without a good o-line. Looks to me like Young, or Plummer are going to hae the same issues Carr had in Houston if they were ever to get traded their. At least Carr has Class. I never saw him beat his chest like a gorilla after the Texans won. You can’t say that about VY.

- Neither of them are likely to make or break the season, but, as they are under contract with the team (making them ASSETS of the organization), it does nothing but make the team stronger if they are productive.

- Its not as if either of them are locked into gargantuan contracts. Thus, hanging onto them and sending them to AAA as a last resort isn’t going to kill the team. (Though I am unfamiliar with the # of options they have on their contracts)

- If Wandy can maintain some consistency in innings 4-6, he would be a viable #5 starter, at minimum. If not, having him on the roster, even in a bullpen/spot start role will work because, after all, he IS a hard-throwing lefty.

- As has been well-documented, Lane has been an MVP at every sub-majors level of baseball he has ever played. He is an elite athlete, with all the tools neccessary to be a GOOD RF. While his recent winter ball numbers really scare me, I’m still hoping that he can get his head straight and get back to his ’05 form. If he can get his stroke back, he’d be a viable starter (in the event that Scott’s ’06 production was a fluke) or increase his value as trade bait or a bench player(if Scott/Hidalgo are better options).

- While less important with the Astros as it is with other teams, the fact that they are both “quality guys” makes them a good fit in the clubhouse.

So, basically, all we can do is wait and hope that they maintain or increase their value as assets to the team. After last season, especially in Lane’s case, their value can’t drop THAT much.

The only issue I take with the blog was that you recognized that NOT having them in camp was even an option worth discussing.(Granted, it was likely in response to a number of ill-informed posts on this very blog) Even if they don’t impress this spring, those two guys should stay with the organization until their contracts expire or they are moved in a trade that is too good to refuse.

2. Peter Gammons is The Godfather of All Baseball Knowledge. I would empty my measely bank account for the chance to talk baseball with the man for an HOUR! … plus the dude can SHRED on the guitar…which is cool.

Rich i actually am in and do need counseling thank you for pointing that out, now i am going to go back to Dr. Finklestein and tell him we can put mom aside for now because we got a whole new bag of problems to deal with.

Want to get on this blog? End the name-calling. Otherwise, go someplace else with your drivel.–Richard

The situation with Lane mirrors, to a lesser degree, the situation that other Houston sports teams are dealing with on “promising” young players (though in Lane’s case, young should probably be in quotation marks, too). I’m thinking of David Carr and Morgan Ensberg.

At this point, we have seen Carr for five years, Lane for three years and Ensberg for four years. None of the three can be described as consistently successful. The question is how much longer should we wait to see if they can reach their potential. But the subsidiary to that question is what is their true potential. To examine that, the only thing we can truly go on is what they’ve already done when they were at their best to this point. While each may become more consistent in the future–in other words, maintain their peak performance for longer periods–I don’t think they will hit a higher peak if we stay longer with any of them.

For David Carr, at his best–during his third year–he was a decent NFL QB (please don’t tell me about his high QB rating in the first few weeks of this season). To me, that is now his upside: a serviceable NFL QB. That’s simply not high enough to justify waiting around for him to achieve that level.

For Ensberg, his peak was 2005 before he got hurt. For most of the season, he was playing at an All-Star, if not MVP caliber level. I’ll definitely take that upside. So even though he’s struggled badly at times, he’s demonstrated enough to suggest that their could be a worthwhile payoff if we stick with him.

As for Lane, his peak was late 2005. During that stretch, he was a middle-of-the-pack corner outfielder. Good numbers, but for a right fielder, not great numbers. Probably worth giving some at-bats to, but not necessarily worth giving him the everyday RF job over a guy who’s coming off a half-season that was arguably better than any stretch of Lane’s career.

It is unbelievable that you say give both Wandy and Lane a chance in ST to earn a job based on performance and people go wild saying release both guys right now, this very minute. And what about the black hole at the bottom of the line up? No one talks about that at all?

You have done a great job of getting the crazies off of the black hole and on to something they know nothing about. Keep it up.

I think it would be silly, and I don’t know howlikely it is, if Hidalgo were to make the team and Lane sent packing. Hidalgo has had his 1,500 at bats and doesn’t have the patience to realize his power potential. I think Scott projects better as a hitter; i.e more patient than Lane w/ similar power etc. Lane had a bad year. It happens. I think it’s mostly abberational. Batting average can fluctuate causing a dip in slugging numbers, which may or may not be the cause of Lane’s dip in slugging percentage last year. What went unnoticed was his 49 walks. If given the at bats- and he wasn’t given the chance to repair his season in the second half like he was in 2005- he should rebound, in Houston or elsewhere. At worst he’s a fourth outfielder. At best a solid everyday player.

Do you think he could play center? More power than Burke. Lane is an exceptional corner outfielder.

I’ve been over this about two dozen times, but I’ll speak real slowly and maybe this time you’ll get it. Richard Hidalgo is in camp as a non-roster invitee. He’s trying to resurrect his career, and to do so, he has returned to the place he started, the place he’s still admired greatly. That’s it. The Astros are giving him a shot because they like him. You say it would be silly to keep him. That’s incredible. What if he hits .450 this spring? What if he gets his swing and his confidence back? At the very, very least, it’s worth it to give a really good guy a chance.

No, I get it. I meant, from a hypothetical standpoint (I wrote-you will recall- “I don’t know how likely it is”, it would be silly to keep Hidalgo over Lane . I know how the non-roster invitee business works. It’s risk free because it’s relatively cheap, which makes it why not sort of thing. It’s routine for clubs to do that, like Steve Sparks last year. But I don’t think it’s wise to make roster decisions based on spring training. Spring training stats are chimerical, often inflated by success against poor copetition (other non-roster invitees?)or players who aren’t in their groove yet, et cetera. Remeber Scott’s spring in 2005? Tim Redding’s in 2004? That’s what I meant.